High Heavens (Star Wars - Luke Skywalker)

XIII - The Garbage Monster

"There's something alive in here," Luke said, eyes trained on the trash-ridden water in front of him. 

The strange growls continued, not quite as loud as they had been initially - but still very worrying.

"That's your imagination," Han tried to dismiss, but Mara caught him eyeing the murky pool with unease.

Without warning, a slimy tentacle slid by Mara's feet, causing her to jerk back. "What the hell?" 

"Something just moved past my leg," Luke exclaimed, looking around. "Look!" He pointed at something closer to Han. "Did you see that?"

Mara's hand rested on her blaster as she looked around, Han questioning what exactly it was that Luke was 'seeing'. The entire group was inching closer to solid ground, all wondering exactly how deep the water actually was; and none of them really wanting to find out.

Luke suddenly let out a yelp, which was cut off as the garbage chute creature coiled a tentacle around his ankles, dragging him into the water. Mara shouted out his name, lunging for him just as he disappeared below the surface.

"Luke!" Leia screamed.

"Luke! Kid!" Han waved his arm through the water, trying to shove the floating trash out of the way so he could get a better look - which proved to be useless. The water was just too brown to see anything.

Mara stared at the water, panicked. "Luke!"

Finally, Luke resurfaced with a loud gasp for air, violently struggling against the animal holding him. Mara jumped forward, straining her arm towards him, but missing his hand by a few mere inches. Han tried to grab him as well, but neither were successful. The tentacle monster was too strong and refused to relinquish it's catch.

"Blast it, will ya? My gun's jammed!" Luke choked out, clawing at the tentacle coiled around his neck.

"Where?" Han demanded.

"Anywhere!"

Both Mara and Han fired their blasters at the massive limb, finally getting the chance to pull Luke towards them. Mara was backing them away when the tentacle seized Luke again, and he disappeared under the muck. They all yelled for him again, but it made no difference. The water went still, the space growing deathly quiet. 

Mara stared at the water, and then breathed out a quiet, "Damn it, Skywalker."

Then, she proceeded to execute what was possibly her least-thought-out plan of her life so far, and dove headfirst into the water.

She heard Han and Leia's muffled voices as they yelled her name, but even those noises faded away. Her senses seemed to dull, leaving her with only the sickeningly-vivid sensation of the lukewarm water soaking every inch of her. She dared to open her eyes, but the sting from the contaminated water proved it to be a horrible decision. It was too filthy to see anything, anyways.

Her sense of direction was muddled at best, but Mara swam, hopefully closer to wherever her Luke was. Each movement seemed to grow more and more futile. For all she knew, Luke could already be dead. 

Please don't be dead, she pleaded to herself. Please don't be dead. 

She thrashed about, stretching in every direction to try and locate her friend under the water. But she was no Jedi. She couldn't just divine where he was.

Her mind spun back to the Millennium Falcon, training with her mother's lightsaber. She'd felt like a Jedi, if even for a moment. What was it that Ben had said, again? 

Let go your conscious self, and act on instinct... 

Stretch out with your feelings.